Patriots Journal: Back after day off, Brady says he’s fine

FOXBORO — Tom Brady was feeling better as he went back to work on Thursday.“It was nothing. I feel great, nothing at all,” the quarterback said of the illness that kept him away from practice Wednesday....

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PAUL KENYON
Posted Jan. 16, 2014 @ 6:00 pm

FOXBORO — Tom Brady was feeling better as he went back to work on Thursday.

“It was nothing. I feel great, nothing at all,” the quarterback said of the illness that kept him away from practice Wednesday. His absence on the busiest practice day of the week simply presents one more hurdle for him and his team to overcome.

“We’ve become a team that’s more resilient and mentally tough,” he said. “I think we’ve proved over the course of the season that we are that.”

He spoke about how the Patriots are moving forward as usual

“It was good to be out there moving around good. The team was practicing good. That’s the big positive for us,” he said. “Everything’s important at this point. You have six days to prepare, and you’re on the clock.” He has no doubt that he and his teammates can overcome his one-day absence.

“We’ve been at it for a while now. There are days where I’ve missed days of practice and you just deal with them. I’ve played a lot of football over the whole season and I got back out there today and it felt good,” he said. “We need to practice good. We need to go out and play good; that’s going to be the most important thing. They’re going to challenge us in a lot of ways. They challenged us last time we played them here. Going on the road to a great environment like this where the crowd is really going to be into it, it’s going to be an exciting challenge for us. I’m excited.”

His focus is getting his offense to play better than in the November game against the Broncos.

“We turned it over three times in the first quarter and couldn’t do anything and they played good,” he said of the contest that saw Denver build a 24-0 lead at halftime before New England rallied for a 34-31 victory in overtime.

Brady declined to get involved in discussion about the historical implications of his 15 matches with Peyton Manning.

I’m pretty much focused on this week. I don’t really think about those things, truthfully,” he said. “It’s just not where my mind is. He’s a great player. They’ve got a great team and one of the best offenses in history. I think what that means for us is we better be ready to score some points because that’s what they do best. They out-score you and they can score quickly. They can run the ball like they did against us last time. They have a bunch of guys who have caught a bunch of touchdowns.

“What that means for our offense is we have to be able to match it. We have to be able to eliminate the ability for them to possess the football, whether that’s controlling the ball through third downs, whether that’s not turning the ball over, whether that’s getting the ball in the red area. There’s not one phase of our game that we can’t be at our very best. They have a great football team. They’ve been playing great since the opening day of the season. We’ve kind of had to find our way a little bit. But none of it really matters. It’s just all about this game.”

Bailey looking to make mark

For Champ Bailey, this week looks as if it will be like the good old days. He will probably be back to being a key player again for Denver.

Bailey has battled a lingering foot injury all season. He has played in only five games, and even when he has been on the field, it has been in nickel packages in which he usually is assigned to the slot receiver rather than his usual cornerback spot.

For the first time in his career, the 15-year veteran did not have an interception. He has had 52 in a career that has seen him earn Pro Bowl selections 12 times, more than any other defensive back in league history. The 52 interceptions do not include one he had on Brady in the 2005 AFC title game, the last time Denver has reached the conference final.

Bailey is an all-but-certain Hall of Famer. At 35, he is no longer the same player he has been, but he relishes the chance to do one of the few things he has never done: help his team earn a Super Bowl ring.

Absolutely. I’m ready for whatever they want me to do,” he said. “That is the way I prepare. I’ve never not prepared like that.” He admits this year has been tough on him.

“It’s been very frustrating, my most frustrating, probably because I’m living it right now,” he said. “The only thing I care about now is I’m back on the field. I’m ready to go. I feel good, and that’s all that matters right now.”

He is not looking at it as his last chance to win a Super Bowl.

“I don’t prepare thinking things like that,” he said. “All I care about is winning the game in front of me. (I do) not worry about my legacy — all those things will take care of themselves. I’m just worried about what is in front of me. If I don’t take care of what is in front of me, then nothing else will matter, because I would probably go out there and have a bad game or something like that. So I don’t get caught up in that. . . . When I’m done, I’ll look back then.”

“Champ’s pretty close to the face of that franchise, has been for the last decade. (He’s a) great player, great ball skills, tremendous consistency,” said Pats coach Bill Belichick. “I think Champ is one of the players that, (what) makes him so special is he can just match up against anybody. (You) can put him on big receivers, can put him on tight ends, can put him on little, fast guys. You can put him on anybody you want. He’s always been able to cover the top players; excellent run force player, good tackler, tough, very instinctive. He’s been a great football player. He’s had a great career.”

McGinest honorary captain

The Patriots honored one of their former stars Thursday when they announced Willie McGinest will be their honorary captain for Sunday’s game.

McGinest starred on all three New England Super Bowl championship teams, in 2001, 2003 and 2004. He was the team’s first-round draft choice in 1994, the year Robert Kraft bought the team.

McGinest played 11 of his 15 NFL seasons with the Patriots, seeing action in 18 playoff games, four AFC Championship Games and four Super Bowls. McGinest set two NFL postseason records during his time with the Patriots — most sacks in a game with 4.5 in a wildcard game against Jacksonville and career postseason sacks, with 16.

Rod Smith, a wide receiver who was inducted into Denver’s Ring of Fame last year, will be the Broncos’ honorary captain.

Injury report

Brady has been on the injury report for most of the second half of the season listed as having a right-shoulder injury. That was doubled with his illness on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Brady was removed totally from the report. The rest apparently cured his shoulder, as well.

What’s more, Danny Aiken and Kyle Arrington also saw their names removed from the injury report. Four others, Alfonzo Dennard, Dane Fletcher, Logan Mankins and Shane Vereen, went from limited to full participation.